Imagining the farm: spectacle, nationalism, and agri-tourism in Canada

"My decision to explore the spectaclization of rural and farm life in Canada was fuelled by the desire to answer the following questions: • What motivates the nostalgia and the longing that people have for farming, pioneer and rural life? • Why are people longing for this? What is it about modernity that is so disrupting and fragmenting that people would pay money to visit an old farm, to milk a cow, to pick some apples? • How are farm tourism and nationalism connected? Is the farm as tourist site a physical manifestation of the desire to locate a strong national identity? • What are the implications and complications of this transformation of the farm? The nature and length of this research paper is insufficient in dealing with the topic of farm tourism in all its detail. Rather than offer a conclusive discussion on the nature and implications of farm tourism, I hope this paper will bring to light issues of local and rural manifestations of nationalism, otherness, longing and fragmentation as well as call attention to the implications and complications that potentially arise out of agri-tourism" -- From Introduction, page 4.

Imagining the farm: spectacle, nationalism, and agri-tourism in Canada

"My decision to explore the spectaclization of rural and farm life in Canada was fuelled by the desire to answer the following questions: • What motivates the nostalgia and the longing that people have for farming, pioneer and rural life? • Why are people longing for this? What is it about modernity that is so disrupting and fragmenting that people would pay money to visit an old farm, to milk a cow, to pick some apples? • How are farm tourism and nationalism connected? Is the farm as tourist site a physical manifestation of the desire to locate a strong national identity? • What are the implications and complications of this transformation of the farm? The nature and length of this research paper is insufficient in dealing with the topic of farm tourism in all its detail. Rather than offer a conclusive discussion on the nature and implications of farm tourism, I hope this paper will bring to light issues of local and rural manifestations of nationalism, otherness, longing and fragmentation as well as call attention to the implications and complications that potentially arise out of agri-tourism" -- From Introduction, page 4.

Achieving sustainable development goals through agritourism in Algeria

Purpose This paper aims to focus on the concept of agritourism and how its development and promotion can contribute to the achievement of a number of sustainable development objectives, including those related to reducing inequalities, fighting poverty, sustainable consumption and production and ensuring food security. Design/methodology/approach Professionals and experts in the fields of agriculture, aquaculture and tourism were interviewed to better understand the challenges of agritourism and how it could contribute to the achievement of sustainable development objectives in mountainous and arid regions. Findings The results highlight the environmental, economic and social benefits that can be derived from the practice of agritourism and how this can be a distinguishing feature for a country in which conventional tourism is struggling to develop. participation in farm life for various activities is a key element of any agritourism activity. The results also confirmed the various benefits of the practice, both for farmers and tourists and that it contributed directly to the achievement of certain objectives such as poverty alleviation, reduction of inequalities, food security and preservation of water resources. Research limitations/implications This research has certain limitations, the first being the fact that it is a qualitative study and the results cannot be extrapolated; second, it only took into account the point of view of a certain category of people, namely, experts and tourism professionals. Originality/value New elements were also identified, in particular, concerning certain perceived risks related to the practice of agritourism such as bio-piracy or damage to national heritage, as well as the appropriation and use of ancestral practices for commercial purposes by other countries.

Unexpected Careers: My Environment Made Me Do Them

This essay describes how environmental conditions affected my unexpected evolution from farm life in a rural Canadian community to becoming a physical education specialist and multisport coach and eventually a U.S. kinesiology scholar with a public health focus. I first recount my life on the farm and initial education and then identify the importance of full- and part-time jobs relative to how they helped prepare me for a life in academia. Later, I summarize two main areas of academic work that extended beyond university campuses—the design and implementation of evidence-based physical activity programs and the development of systematic observation tools to assess physical activity and its associated contexts in diverse settings, including schools, parks, and playgrounds. I conclude with a section on people and locations to illustrate the importance of collaborations—essential components for doing field-based work. Without those connections, I would not have had such an extensive and diverse career.

Predictors of Depressive Symptoms in Rural Farm Women Aged 50 and Over

Purpose: Aspects of farming and farm life can contribute to higher levels of depressive symptoms resulting in an increased risk for injury and development of chronic disease and a decrease in overall quality of life. Rural farm women can be subjected to stressors from farming as an occupation, their role within the agrarian culture, and life in a rural area. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations of demographic characteristics, agricultural occupational factors, and health indicators with depressive symptoms among farm women aged 50 years and older. Methods: Secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from the Sustained Work Indicators of Older Farmers Study (2002-2006) was used to examine the influence of factors on depressive symptoms of older (> 50 years) female farmers (N= 358) from North Carolina and Kentucky. The study was framed by a modified version of the Biopsychosocial Model. Logistic regression was conducted to examine the relationships between demographics, perceived health status, active coping score, perceived stress, and factors specific to farm work and depressive symptoms. Findings: Participants’ depressive symptoms status (high vs. low) was predicted by their race/ethnicity, years of education, adequacy of income for vacation, perceived health status, perceived stress, and active coping. Conclusion: This study increases our understanding of the factors associated with depressive symptoms in farm women, but also identifies significant gaps in our knowledge of depressive symptoms among this population. The multifaceted dimensions of depressive symptoms revealed indicate a crucial need to more fully explore the interrelationship among the dimensions of the conceptual model and the physical and mental health of farm women. Additional knowledge gained from these studies will assist in the development of assessment instruments, skills, and plan of care specific to the needs of farm women; thus optimizing the health care of farm women. Key words: rural women, farm women, depressive symptoms, farm life

Country People: Depictions of Farm Women in Flannery O’Connor’s Short Fiction

Monica Miller recuperates O’Connor’s female farmers and mothers, women whose labor keeps their dependents financially stable but whose complaints and unhappiness often invite censure from other characters as well as readers and critics. Miller offers a more sympathetic reading of these women, suggesting that their preoccupations might stem less from pettiness than from practical concerns about managing farms and finances. To support her argument, Miller draws on archival material newly acquired by Emory University’s Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library. These materials, excerpted here for the first time, provide context about the realities of managing Andalusia, the O’Connor family farm. Ultimately, Miller argues that through these women farmers and mothers, O’Connor’s stories offer a realistic representation of farm life that corrects the romantic depictions that appear in the fiction of many of O’Connor’s contemporaries.

A Software for Calculating the Economic Aspects of Floating Offshore Renewable Energies

The aim of this work is to develop a software to calculate the economic parameters so as to determine the feasibility of a floating offshore renewable farm in a selected location. The software can calculate the economic parameters of several types of offshore renewable energies, as follows: one renewable energy (floating offshore wind—WindFloat, tension leg platform (TLP), and spar; floating wave energy—Pelamis and AquaBuoy), hybrid offshore wind and wave systems (Wave Dragon and W2Power), and combined offshore wind and waves with different systems (independent arrays, peripherally distributed arrays, uniformly distributed arrays, and non-uniformly distributed arrays). The user can select several inputs, such as the location, configuration of the farm, type of floating offshore platform, type of power of the farm, life-cycle of the farm, electric tariff, capital cost, corporate tax, steel cost, percentage of financing, or interest and capacity of the shipyard. The case study is focused on the Galicia region (NW of Spain). The results indicate the economic feasibility of a farm of floating offshore renewable energy in a particular location in terms of its costs, levelized cost of energy (LCOE), internal rate of return (IRR), net present value (NPV), and discounted pay-back period. The tool allows for establishing conclusions about the dependence of the offshore wind resource parameters, the main distances (farm–shore, farm–shipyard, and farm–port), the parameters of the waves, and the bathymetry of the area selected.